Caim
Caim is the main protagonist of Drakengard, and later a major antagonist in Drakengard II. Witnessing the murder of his parents' death at the fangs and claws of a Black Dragon from the Empire, he's harbored a deep grudge towards the Empire and dragons themselves, and has sworn vengeance, then. Fighting off an army of soldiers to defend his castle, he gets mortally wounded, and heads off to the castle to use whatever strength he feels he has left to defend his sister, Furiae. Cain's Novella Caim is the only son of Gaap, a kind and just king who once ruled a small eastern country named Caerleon. Caim was once a courteous and gentle youth like his father; he easily forgave his fellow man and never held a grudge. He idolized his father and aspired to be like him, clinging closely to Gaap's lessons of swordsmanship and enjoying his sparring sessions with his childhood friend, Inuart. Since Caim spent most of his youth dedicating himself to his extensive sword training, he was completely unaware of the Empire inching closer to his homeland. On his eighteenth birthday, as he hurried to receive his parents' blessings, Caim personally witnessed the Black Dragon devouring his mother. Gaap told his son to escape with Furiae and tried to hold it off; he too fell before it. The death of his parents dealt a deafening blow to both him and the kingdom. Caim learned afterwards that the dragon was sent there by the Watchers, who were associated with the Empire. The only remnant he had left to note his royalty was the bracelet both he and Furiae wear on their left wrist. In his period of grief, Caim's kindness died with his parents. After his kingdom fell to ruin, Caim decided to rely on no one else but himself. He would only believe in his own strength and his sword in the battlefield. When he first left his home and joined the Union, it was with the pure intent of avenging his parents. As the years of fighting the Empire waged on, however, Caim's anger towards his loss gradually manifested into pleasure from killing others. His guilt was dulled with the many lives he took. He justifies to himself that he is fighting for revenge, even if his naysayers state otherwise. Drakengard In an attack on the Castle of the goddess by the Empire, Caim fights in a fierce battle to protect the goddess, his sister Furiae. A mighty warrior, Caim slays countless foes, but is soon gravely injured due to his recklessness. As the attack draws into the castle courtyard, Caim finds that the Empire has captured a Red Dragon. Engulfed by hatred, Caim approaches the dragon with murderous intent as images of his parents' death flash through his mind. As Caim raises his sword, the dragon speaks, claiming that even though Caim may kill her, her soul won't be dirtied. Instead of killing her, Caim asks if she wishes to live and offers her a pact, saying that he wishes to live as well. Before the red dragon can give her answer, more imperial soldiers attack. Caim deals with them quickly, asking the dragon once again for her answer. The dragon states that they are bonded by their need to live and accepts the pact. As they fuse their hearts together, the two are healed and become one. The price of Caim's pact, for gaining so much power, was his voice (The dragon speaks for Caim for the rest of the game). Caim and the dragon soar through the sky, destroying the Empire's aircraft, and then proceed to destroy all imperial soldiers on the ground and in the castle. There, he stands with his sister Furiae and his childhood friend, Inuart. They have a moment of peace (which involves showing the two Caim's pact mark on his tongue) before deciding they should hide Furiae elsewhere. They then decide to go to the elven village. When they reach the village of the elves, however, they find that the whole village has been slaughtered. Inuart and Furiae go on ahead to the desert temple seeking Hierarch Verdelet, while Caim stays in the forest. He meets Leonard and attempts to protect the Forest of the Seal. After failing, they decide to go to the desert to protect the seal there. They find Furiae, only to learn that Inuart and Verdelet have been captured by the Empire. Caim heads for the Imperial gaol in the desert and frees Verdelet. As for Inuart, all they find is his harp. The Empire attacks the Desert Seal and succeeds in destroying it. Afterwards, the group finds an elven woman by the name of Arioch, whom is a pact partner with two elementals, Undine and Salemander. After some discussion (and an attempt by her to feast on Caim's flesh), it is decided that Arioch will join them on their journey. Later, Inuart finds Caim, saying that the only way to free Furiae from her burden as a Goddess is to bring her to the Empire. Caim refuses, and the two fight. It is then that Inuart also shows that he is a pact partner with a black dragon, the one that killed Caim's parents. The two dragons do battle as well, with the black dragon gaining the upper hand. Caim rushes in to strike down the black dragon, but is met with a fiery inferno. Protected only by his red dragon, the two lose the battle. Inuart takes Furiae and flies off, leaving his harp behind. With this harsh blow, the group still tries to protect the seals. They manage to find the Ocean Seal, only to lose it as well. Now only one seal remains, Furiae. Before they can start looking for her though, the Empire decides to unleash a massive attack on the Union in a deadly battle. Caim heads through the mountains, finding a young boy, and pact partner with a Golem, Seere. Then they face the Imperial Army together. With Caim and his dragon's strength, they manage to defeat them. Suddenly, the skies turn red, meteors fall to the ground, and the dead Imperial soldiers rise from the dead. Now Caim fights against the undead, and his army is slaughtered. After the battle, Caim heads for the Empire's Sky Fortress. He is met by Inuart once again, and the two battle in the sky. Inuart flees the battle. Caim makes his way to the Sky Fortress. Ending Paths The Anguish of an Unsmiling Watcher Caim fights through the halls of the fortress, only to find that his sister is already dead. There he sees the priestess of the Cult of Watchers, Manah, dancing. With the last seal broken, the world plummets into chaos. Caim leaves the fortress, only to find Inuart carrying Furiae's dead body. He chases Inuart to the Imperial city, where they fight armies of imperial soldiers as the Seeds of Resurrection appear. There, Caim and the red dragon face off against a grand and legendary dragon, known as the Wyrm. Caim soothes the red dragon, forming an even closer bond, and take down the mighty creature. They arrive at Manah's castle and battle her undead soldiers. Caim turns to face the priestess, but is stopped by Verdelet, who tries to imprison her with a sealing ritual. The ritual fails, however, and Manah grows in size, challenging Caim and his dragon to battle. At her defeat, Manah begs for death, but Caim will not give it to her. For his own revenge, Caim claims that he will make sure the girl will live long enough to see all the horrible things she's done until she is driven insane. Now that the panic is over, the seals must once again be established. The red dragon, to Caim's horror, offers to become the seal. As they have their tragic goodbyes, the red dragon tells Caim her name,Angelus (Angel in Japanese), saying that he is the only human to know her name now. The seal completes, and the red dragon fades away. Flowers for the Broken Spirit After doing battle with Inuart, Caim tracks him down to stop him from using the Seeds of Resurrection to revive Furiae. He fails to stop him, however, and Furiae is reborn as a monster. She kills Inuart and proceeds to fight Caim. He manages to kill her. As Caim stands on a hill, holding his dead sister in his arms, he gazes out at thousands of Furiae clones that rise around the city to destroy the world. A Companion's Eternal Farewell After doing battle with Inuart, Caim tracks him down to stop him from using the Seeds of Resurrection to revive Furiae. He manages to stop him and lets him die by the Seed, holding Furiae in his arms. Caim turns his attention to the priestess. He arrives to Manah's temple, only to find that she has been eaten by a dragon. Angelus has also changed, becoming what is known as a Chaos dragon. She says that they must fight, as the dragons plan on killing all of humanity and taking over the world as their own. She breaks the pact, and the two fight. Caim kills Angelus, breaking his own heart in the process. With one last look at his dead friend, Caim runs into the light, ready to face the rising army of dragons. The Wild Dreams of a Deluded Child After making his way into the the Sky Fortress, Caim manages to find Manah. After Seere realizes his sister is beyond hope, he commands his pact partner, Golem, to kill her. With the world driven insane and time itself distorted, the Grotesqueries fly down to kill all humanity. Their leader, the Queen-beast, lies down in the middle of the Imperial city, giving birth to the end of the world. Arioch is eaten, Leonard sacrifices himself to allow the others to escape, and Caim is also defeated along with his red dragon. They, however, manage get Seere on top of the Queen-beast, where he releases his time, freezing a large section of the world forever in time. The End of the dragon Sphere Caim and Angelus charge into the Queen-beast, breaking into another world, into the city of Tokyo. There they battle the Queen-beast and destroy her. When the battle is over, they are shot down by jets. Unfortunately, once shot down, magic enters the world where it doesn't belong. This causes a poisoning that wreaks havoc on the world and causes a disease known as the White Chlorination Syndrome to spread, destroying humanity. This ending leads to the events of NIER. Ironically, all of the weapons collected in Drakengard are scattered across, some of them making it into the hands of Nier. Drakengard 2 Caim is charged with the responsibility of taking Manah beneath his wing and showing her the torment she has wrought upon the world. It is imperative that she sees the pain and poverty she has caused to the lands, so that it prevents the same course of action from occurring again. Caim's anger towards Manah lessens as the years drag on. He becomes so fond of her that he gives her his bracelet. In the midst of traveling together, Caim is distracted by Angelus's pain from the seal, as Verdelet has increased the power on it. Manah takes this opportunity and stabs Caim's eye with a hidden dagger, throwing herself off a cliff in the process. This reawakens Caim's anger towards her. Unable to locate her, Caim turns his vengeance on Verdelet and his Knights of the Seal. He hunts him down and kills him, turning his path to the rest of the seals. After years of fighting the knights, Caim grew to be known as The One Eyed Man. He never successfully destroyed a seal, though. He ran into a boy named Nowe and found Manah once again. He attempted to capture her, but failed. He found the District of Shining Life and attacked it. Since the guardian was missing, the attack was easy. He met with Nowe once again, and the two battled. Nowe sought revenge against Caim for killing his adoptive father in an attack on the Seal. Caim faltered for a moment and almost managed to strike a death blow, but Urick jumped in the way. Due to Urick's pact with The Reaper, he didn't die right away. Caim continued to attack Urick until he finally killed him. During Urick's dying moments, he pushed Caim down a seemingly bottomless chasm. Caim didn't die however, and found Angelus after she had been released. However Angelus had become insane due to the tortures of being the seal and didn't recognize Caim. When Angelus flies off to begin another rampage on the world, he told Nowe to kill her to free Angelus from her pain. As Angelus dies, Caim was finally able to reunite with her and the two shared one last moment together. As the two looked at each other with a bond no other knew, Angelus asked, "Is it over, Caim?" He answered, "It's over. We're together now." Caim looked at Nowe with a grateful smile before he faded to ashes with his dragon. Personality Prior to the fall of Caerleon, Caim was said to be a cheerful type, good in combat and being on good terms with Inuart and Furiae. He also dearly loved his parents. After the fall of Caerleon and the death of his parents at the hands of Empire, Caim developed an intense desire for revenge. His condition worsened after Furiae was chosen as the new Goddess of the Seal, with him losing any remnants of his cheerful self and becoming sullen even in front of Furiae. His darkened demeanor also greatly effected Inuart, whose own withdraw was reinforced by this. By the events of Drakengard, Caim is known for his bloodlust and vengeful ambition. He lacks empathy and mercy, such as having no hesitance to take many lives, and displays a great love for battle and slaughter, as he is shown to have a sadistic grin when in the midst of combat. Despite his grim persona, he also possesses a softer side. He has shown compassion towards his sister, Furiae, and many times puts her safety above his own penchant for revenge. He even has an attachment to Inuart, which remains to a degree despite his friend turning against him. Caim also develops a strong bond with Angelus over the course of their adventure. This eventually evolves into a kind of romantic attachment, which is demonstrated with his shedding tears when she becomes the new Goddess in Drakengard's first ending and his sorrow at needing to fight her in the third. By the events of Drakengard 2, virtually all of Caim's lighter side has gone, replaced by his dark persona and lust for combat. He also retains a deep hatred of Manah due to her role in the loss of his sister and Angelus. His feelings for Angelus remain unchanged: indeed, they have grown to the point that he is willing to condemn the world to chaos to end her suffering. In the end, he accepts his death in order to be with her again. Abilities Caim is able to wield many kinds of different weapons and use several types of magic. However, Caim's greatest skill lies in his swordplay, as it is seen to be his most proficient weapon in the game's scenes and cut-scenes. Caim's most unique magic is his fire element, as it is his strongest magical ability and he has greatly improved on it, especially during the 18 years between the games. Trivia *It is said by Taro Yoko, the creator of the Drakengard series, that Caim is roughly based on Guts from Berserk. *Caim is also the biological uncle of Nowe, the protagonist of Drakengard 2 as well as one of his major enemies. 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